


Scraped Off My Knees

by Calamity_Hero_Awakens



Series: Closer [6]
Category: Saw (Movies)
Genre: Adam is a good dad goddamn it, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Children, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Elementary School, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Insecurity, Light Angst, M/M, Tags Are Hard, Tension, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24424339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calamity_Hero_Awakens/pseuds/Calamity_Hero_Awakens
Summary: “Raising a child is hard work,” the blonde oncologist stated as if Adam hadn’t already realized that before, wrapping an arm around Adam’s shoulders and pulling him against his side.“I’m a shitty parent,” Adam simply said, leaning limply against Lawrence’s side.“You’re not a bad parent,” Lawrence assured him, tilting Adam’s head up so the two were looking at each other. “But I might have to wash your mouth out with soap.”
Relationships: Adam Faulkner-Stanheight/Lawrence Gordon
Series: Closer [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694818
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Scraped Off My Knees

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T for language

From the moment Lawrence had picked up Diana from school, he knew that something was off. Instead of rushing to the car with a bright smile, she had dismally climbed into the back seat and remained silent the entire ride home. Lawrence had asked if she was feeling alright and she had nodded her head, staring out the window drearily. When they had arrived back at the apartment, she had disappeared to her room and closed the door, not even bothering to say hello to Adam.

“She feelin’ alright?” Adam asked Lawrence, casting a worried glance toward the closed bedroom door covered in butterfly stickers.

“I’m not sure,” Lawrence admitted, taking a seat beside Adam. “She was quiet the whole ride home and doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.”

“I’ll talk to her after dinner,” Adam promised and Lawrence nodded, setting his arm over the back of the couch as Adam leaned against him.

🔗🔗🔗🔒🔗🔗🔗

Dinner was relatively quiet, the majority of the conversation ruled by the two men. Diana remained silent, staring down at her plate with little interest and picking at her food; very little of the meal actually made it to her mouth.

“May I be excused?” she finally asked, looking up at her daddy.

“You should eat a little more,” Lawrence replied, noticing the amount of food on her plate hadn’t changed.

She sighed but forced herself to eat a little more before asking again.

“I suppose,” Lawrence sighed, watching as his daughter pushed away from the table and hurried back to her room, closing the door behind her again.

Setting his fork on the edge of his plate, Adam stood. “I’ll talk to her.”

Approaching Diana’s door, Adam knocked lightly. “Hey, it’s Adam.”

“Come in,” Diana quietly said and Adam nearly missed it. Turning the knob, Adam entered the little girl’s room, closing the door behind him. The aforementioned girl was sitting on the edge of her bed, kicking her shoes off.

Adam took a seat beside her, waiting until she’d removed her shoes before he asked, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Do I have to go to school tomorrow?” she quietly asked, giving Adam the puppy dog eyes.

“I thought you liked school,” Adam stated in a questioning tone and Diana glanced off to the side. It took a few moments but she finally replied.

“The other kids have been picking on me.”

Adam was filled with a mix of anger and confusion. “Why would they do that?”

Scooting back a little on her small bed, Diana finally met Adam’s eyes. “We’ve been working on a project in class about our families. Everyone had to draw a picture of their family and write about them and then present them to the class. After I presented, everyone’s been making fun of me for having two dads.”

The rage that had filled Adam tripled and it took every ounce of self restraint - something he had very little of in the first place - to keep himself from breaking something or just yelling.

“Did you tell your teacher?” Adam finally asked through gritted teeth.

“Yeah,” Diana sighed. “But she didn’t do anything.”

“Then I’ll tell you what you do,” Adam said. “When you go to school tomorrow, if they start picking on you, you tell them to fuck off.”

The words slipped from his mouth before he had a chance to restrain himself and Diana’s eyes widened.

“I’m not supposed to say that word,” she said in a hushed voice.

He was already in this deep, no point in backing out now.

“Well I’m giving you permission to say it this one time, alright? ‘Cause they’re not going to leave you alone if you ignore them. And I won’t tell your daddy either, okay?”

Diana nodded frantically but a small smile appeared on her face. “Okay.”

Adam gave her a nervous smile. “Alright. Now, do you wanna watch TV?”

The young girl nodded before jumping up and throwing her arms around Adam’s neck. “Thanks, dad.”

The word caught Adam off guard but he didn’t hesitate to hug her back. “Any time.”

🔗🔗🔗🔒🔗🔗🔗

It was one of the few days that the good doctor had off from work and he and Adam were watching a movie together when the cellular phone in his pocket rang. As Adam paused the movie, Lawrence answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Doctor Gordon,” the man on the other end addressed him. “This is principal Sterling.”

“Oh, uhm, is everything alright?” Lawrence asked, caught off guard. He had never received a call from the principal of Diana’s school before and his anxiety skyrocketed.

“I’m calling to ask if we could set up a conference to discuss Diana’s recent outburst in class.”

“Excuse me?”

“There seems to have been an altercation between her and another student in which she was reported to have used unsavory language.”

Lawrence glanced over at Adam, frowning and praying that his boyfriend had nothing to do with this.

“Alright, when would you like to set up the conference?”

“Would today at four be alright?” principal Sterling asked.

“That would be fine,” Lawrence sighed.

After hanging up, he directed his attention to Adam.

“If I find out you encouraged Diana to use explicit language, you’re going to be in big trouble,” the doctor warned, earning a nervous chuckle from Adam.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

🔗🔗🔗🔒🔗🔗🔗

The elementary school resembled every public school Adam had attended before ultimately dropping out of high school and the stale air of the mostly deserted hallway made him feel sick. Toward the center of the hallway, a girl was sitting on a chair, her bookbag leaning against the leg of the chair and her eyes downcast toward the off-white tile. When Adam and Lawrence approached, she glanced up long enough to see both of her dads before quickly looking away. Lawrence remained silent as they entered the office.

“Welcome, doctor Gordon,” principal Sterling addressed the man before catching sight of Adam. He seemed a little surprised that Adam had decided to tag along and that only angered the younger man; he wasn’t sure why, though.

“I don’t believe we’ve had a chance to meet,” the man said to Adam as Lawrence took a seat in one of the overstuffed faux leather chairs in front of the wooden desk.

“Adam,” the photographer said, purposefully ignoring the principal’s outstretched hand and taking a seat beside Lawrence.

“Adam Faulkner,” Lawrence corrected, casting a side glance at Adam that clearly said, “For the love of God, don’t be embarrassing.”

“It’s nice to meet you, mister Faulkner,” principal Sterling said, pulling up the knees of his pants as he sat in the chair behind his desk.

 _Pompous asshole_ , Adam thought as he caught sight of the shiny, faux gold plated name tag on the desk that read “Principal Marcus Sterling”.

“To get straight to business,” Marcus began, propping his elbows up on the armrests of his chair and tenting his fingers. Yep, Adam definitely did not like him. “Diana recently had an outburst in class in which she was using explicit language directed to another student. Now, I know this is highly unusual behaviour for her, but as the principal, I had to inform you of this incident.”

“What exactly happened?” Lawrence asked, always the levelheaded doctor.

“From what several students as well as the teacher have told me, Diana was working on one of the projects they had been assigned in class when another student began trying to talk to her and she told them to,” he awkwardly cleared his throat before quoting Diana’s words, “‘Fuck off’.”

Lawrence sighed and Marcus hurriedly continued.

“Like I said, we’ve never had a problem with her acting out or exhibiting such behaviour, but this is serious, doctor Gordon. We don’t tolerate that kind of language in this environment.”

“I understa-” Lawrence began before he was cut off by Adam.

“Oh, but you do tolerate bullying?” he asked, raising his voice. “Because that’s what’s been going on, but apparently you’re cool with that.”

“Mister Faulkner, I assure you, we have a zero tolerance policy here for harassment of any kind.”

“Well then why is our daughter,” _holy shit, I just said ‘our daughter’_ , “coming home and telling me about the kids in her class that are bullying her? And that she told the teacher but the teacher didn’t do shit about it?”

“Mister Faulkner, please calm-”

“I won’t fucking calm down!” Adam shouted, jumping to his feet. “Explain to me right now why it’s okay for that sweet little girl to come home nearly in tears because the kids at school are bullying her for having two dads, but when she tries to stand up for herself because no one else in this fucking school will, _she’s_ the one that gets punished!”

“Adam!” Lawrence sternly said, not loud enough to be yelling, but still louder than his usual tone.

Eyes burning with rage and chest heaving slightly with his quick breaths, Adam turned to his partner.

“Go wait in the hall,” Lawrence calmly instructed. Adam opened his mouth to reply but was quickly cut off. “Now.”

Adam locked eyes with Marcus before turning to storm out of the room, murmuring “Fuck off” as he went. When the door slammed behind him, he was surprised he hadn’t shattered the frosted glass. Sitting beside the door, Diana flinched from the sudden noise, curling into herself even more. The men’s voices behind the door quietly resumed and Adam quickly paced back and forth in the hall, keeping close to the office. It was a nervous habit that he had yet to break, but it also wasn’t like he had been trying to break it either.

“Am I in trouble?” Diana quietly asked and Adam stopped in place, finally looking over at her.

“No,” he said quietly before his anger returned full force. “No. I’m not going to let you get in trouble for this, got it?”

Diana nodded, glancing down at her shoes before looking back at Adam. “Daddy’s mad, isn’t he?”

Adam sighed, resuming his pacing. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. But you’re not in trouble, okay?”

“Okay,” the young girl meekly replied.

Less than ten minutes passed before the office door opened again and Lawrence appeared, leaning on his cane and looking more exhausted than usual.

“Let’s go.”

As he headed back down the hall, Adam waited beside Diana as she picked up her bag and put her arms through the straps, hurrying to catch up to her daddy but also remaining a few feet back. Walking beside Adam, she didn’t hesitate to grab his hand and squeeze it gently. Adam didn’t blame her; he felt nervous as hell, especially considering he’d be the one in trouble. Come hell or high water, he wasn’t about to let Diana get in trouble for standing up for herself. What kind of shitty parent would that make him?

It was still hard to believe that he was considered a parent. While Diana wasn’t technically his child and he legally wasn’t considered her guardian, Diana still considered him a father and even called him “dad”. Since she had begun to call him that, Adam had felt closer to her than ever before, trying to step up and be as good of a role model as he could be.

That didn’t mean he didn’t fall short sometimes. Obviously.

The car ride home was agonizingly silent - even the radio had been turned off - and Adam felt like he was a prisoner on death row, waiting for the guard to arrive and tell him his time was up. Even when they arrived back at their apartment and boarded the relatively small elevator, Lawrence kept silent. Diana kept glancing toward Adam, feeling just as nervous as he did, but neither knew what to do.

As they entered the apartment, Lawrence stopped by the door to hang his jacket on one of the coat hooks and uttered his first words in nearly an hour.

“Take a seat, both of you.”

The two of them remained silent as they went straight to the couch and took a seat, Diana dropping her bookbag beside the coffee table.

Having never had a true authority figure in his life, Adam wasn’t sure what to expect and that only made him antsier. Even after taking a seat on the couch, he continued to fidget in place.

Rounding the side of the couch, Lawrence appeared in front of them, his eyebrows pinched and his mouth downturned in a frown. Standing in front of them, the coffee table the only thing putting distance between them, Lawrence sighed.

“Diana.”

“Yes, daddy?” the brunette girl quietly replied.

“Why did you say a bad word to someone in your class?”

“He was picking on me,” Diana weakly tried to explain. “And he was making fun of me to the other kids.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have handled it for you.”

“I…” Diana wasn’t sure what to say and tears gathered behind her eyes.

“She told me,” Adam cut in, not wanting to see her cry. Fuck, if she cried, he’d probably end up crying as well.

“So you told her to say that?” Lawrence asked incredulously, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I…” Adam sighed. “I should have thought it through. But I just blurted it out-”

“You _definitely_ should have thought it through,” Lawrence replied, cutting him off. “With all due respect, _Adam_ , she’s my child and I could have handled the situation.”

That struck a nerve. Adam visibly flinched from the statement, averting his gaze to the coffee table as he tried to keep himself from crying. Tears burned at the back of his eyes but he’d be damned if he was going to cry in front of Diana. Adam knew that Diana wasn’t his child, but it still hurt for Lawrence to feel like he had no say whatsoever in her life when he had just been trying to help.

As Adam continued staring at the wooden coffee table, Lawrence said, “Diana, you’re grounded for two weeks, is that understood?”

“Yes sir.”

Adam knew she was getting off easy, but he still felt shitty that she was being punished at all, especially after he had promised that she wouldn’t be.

“Go to your room.”

Diana quickly stood and grabbed her bookbag, fleeing to her room and closing the door behind her. With the two finally by themselves, Lawrence sighed again, coming around the coffee table and sitting on the edge, setting his hand on Adam’s knee. The photographer pulled away from the contact, refusing to meet Lawrence’s gaze.

“Adam.”

“Yeah.”

“You know I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I know.”

“But she _is_ my child.”

Adam felt the lump in his throat and opted to remain silent.

“Look at me.”

Adam stared down at their shoes.

“Adam, look at me.”

It was a herculean task, but Adam managed to finally meet the blue eyes of the doctor.

“I appreciate that you’re trying to help,” Lawrence gently said, finally giving Adam a little smile. “But, maybe next time, we can discuss the matter before you give her any advice, alright?”

The photographer nodded weakly as Lawrence moved to sit beside him.

“Raising a child is hard work,” the blonde oncologist stated as if Adam hadn’t already realized that before, wrapping an arm around Adam’s shoulders and pulling him against his side.

“I’m a shitty parent,” Adam simply said, leaning limply against Lawrence’s side.

“You’re not a bad parent,” Lawrence assured him, tilting Adam’s head up so the two were looking at each other. “But I might have to wash your mouth out with soap.”

Adam sighed through his nose but still smiled a little as he rested his forehead against his partner’s shoulder.

“Just imagine when she’s a teenager,” Adam mumbled against Lawrence’s shirt.

Lawrence groaned. “I’d rather not.”

“You’re just jealous that I’m the cool parent.”

Lawrence chuckled. “If by ‘cool’ you mean ‘rowdy, foul mouthed, and undisciplined’, because that’s what you are. And I most certainly am not jealous of that.”

Adam flicked Lawrence’s side, huffing against his shoulder.

“So it’s just going to get harder?” he asked after a moment.

“Yeah,” Lawrence sighed.

“Well it’s a good thing she’s got two dads then, huh?” Adam joked. “Someone’s gonna have to keep her out of trouble and beat off the boys with a stick.”

Lawrence laughed and squeezed Adam tighter to him. “Think you can handle it?”

Adam couldn’t help but smile. Lawrence really planned to stick by him for that long? And he wanted him to be a part of Diana’s life? How could he say no to that?

Leaning his head on Lawrence’s shoulder, Adam closed his eyes, a ridiculous smile still on his face.

“I can handle you. She can’t be much worse than that.”

“How endearing,” Lawrence shot back, messing up Adam’s already messy hair.

“We can only hope she takes after me in some way,” Adam replied, earning a confused look from his boyfriend.

“And why is that?”

Adam grinned. “Because I am fan-fucking-tastic.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll eventually get to writing another smut, but I’ve been burned out on writing lately. Got several ideas for this little series though.


End file.
